Lastra Named NE10 Rookie of the Year, Boen Tabbed Women's Coach of the Year

EASTON, Mass. (March 30, 2017) – Women's track and field freshman Anna Lastra (Bridgton, Maine/Fryeburg Academy) has been named Northeast-10 Conference Women's Track Rookie of the Year, while head coach Karen Boen picked up her third-consecutive indoor Women's Coach of the Year, as announced by the conference Thursday.

The honor for Lastra reflects the four times that she was named NE10 Rookie of the Week during the indoor season for her outstanding performances. She earned the first accolade on January 17 as she opened up her first indoor collegiate season with a time of 5:10.95 in the mile run at the Beantown Challenge.

She then took on the 3000-meter run posting a time of 10:15.94, finishing fourth at the URI Sorlein Invitational bypassing NE10 and New England qualifications. Her third weekly award topped all 1000-meter competitors by finishing first with a time of 3:01.83 at the Tufts Stampede. The Bridgton, Maine native posted a career-best time of 10:04.55 in the 3000-meter event at the Hemery Valentine Invitational, hosted by Boston University for her fourth individual honor.

Lastra earned NE10 Rooke of the Week four times during the indoor season

Lastra was also part of the distance medley relay team that finished fourth with a time of 11:45.29 at the Bruce Lehane Scarlett & White Invitational, hosted by Boston University. The freshman kicked off the relay with a 3:36.72 1200-meter opening leg, which would help qualify the squad for the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships hosted by the University of Alabama-Huntsville.

The freshman ran in three events at the NE10 Championship, including the 1000m, mile, and 4x800m. She assisted the 4x800m in winning its sixth-straight NE10 crown, while she finished second in both the 1000m and the mile events, giving the women's team its fourth-straight NE10 title. Lastra later ran in the 4x800m, the DMR, and the mile run at the NEICAAA Indoor Championships. The DMR finished first, while the 4x800m took 10th and Lastra crossed the finish 11th in the mile.

To conclude the season, Lastra got the chance to compete at the NCAA Championship in the DMR, once again tackling the 1200-meter leg, with an unofficial split of 3:38.37 and assisting the squad to a 13th-place finish and a time of 11:46.65.

Head coach Karen Boen, in her 19th season with the Skyhawks, has collected seven NE10 Conference Coach of the Year awards for track and field with five of them being for with the women's team.

Boen

Boen led the Stonehill women to their fourth-consecutive NE10 indoor title on February 18th, as the Skyhawks posted two individual first-place titles, one relay crown with the 4x800-meter squad and six All-Conference honors.

Senior Nicole Borofski (Plymouth, Massachusetts/Plymouth North) was named the NE10 Most Outstanding Women's Track Athlete after securing her third mile crown and her second 3000-meter title. She also set a new NE10 meet record in the 3000m race with a time of 9:53.96. The 4x800m squad finished first, for the sixth-straight title and 10th in 12 years.

Stonehill capped its indoor campaign on March 11th at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Alabama-Huntsville in Birmingham, Alabama. Borofski posted her eighth All-America performance of her career with a seventh-place finish in the mile run, clocking in with a time of 4:47.21 and shattering her own school record. The DMR, including Borofski, Lastra, Krista Fernandes (Taunton, Massachusetts/Coyle and Cassidy), and Jillian Caiazzi (Marlborough, Massachusetts/Marlborough) also performed at the championships, crossing the finish 13th with a time of 11:46.65.

Now in her 19th year at Stonehill, Boen also serves as the head coach of Stonehill's men's track and field team, as well as both men's and women's cross country programs. This past fall, she was named NE10 Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the 14th time in her career after leading the Skyhawks to their 15th-consecutive conference championship and 17th-straight trip to the NCAA Championship.

Stonehill opens up the outdoor season by sending athletes to the 52nd Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Virginia, hosted by William and May University on Saturday, April 1 and the Tufts Snowflake Classic, hosted by Tufts University, on Sunday, April 2.